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SAIPAN, CNMI (Marianas Variety, Jan. 2) - United States agents on Wednesday arrested a man on Saipan who has been a fugitive from Palau since 2001 for trafficking methamphetamine or "ice."

Audy MacDonald Maldangasang, 40, was brought before U.S. District Court Judge Alex R. Munson for an extradition hearing on Wednesday.

Munson set no bail for Maldangasang and ordered the defendant to appear in court on Jan. 5 at 9 a.m.

Court papers showed that Maldangasang was charged with three counts of trafficking controlled substance in Palau.

A warrant for his arrest was issued on April 20, 2001 by the Palau Supreme Court.

According to John J. Rice, branch chief for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the CNMI, Palau authorities arrested the defendant in 2001 following illegal drug buy-bust operations after they received information he was selling "ice" at his residence in Ngerbodel, Koror.

MELBOURNE, Australia (Radio Australia, Jan. 2) - The Australian Government has defended its immigration policies, saying criticism of its detention centers is misguided.

"People who are in detention centers in Australia are not refugees," said Immigration Minister Amanda Vanstone. "That’s the whole point."

Vanstone said more than 12,000 visas were issued to refugees in 2003, many for permanent residency status.

"People who are refugees get a visa, and they're out in the community. People who are in detention are people who haven't accepted the decision that they're not refugees, and have refused to go home," she said.

The Minister says most new refugees to Australia are coming from Africa, the Middle East and South West Asia.

PAPEETE, Tahiti (Tahitipresse, Dec. 31 ) - The highlight of the Year 2003 in French Polynesia was French President Jacques Chirac’s historic official visit from July 25-28. That visit, Chirac’s first in eight years, was made all the more important and significant by a one-day France-Oceania meeting he hosted on the very last day.

"A faultless performance" was how French Polynesia Government President Gaston Flosse later summarized the manner in which the official Chirac visit "perfectly took place".

Added Flosse: "Before going on vacation to Canada, Jacques Chirac sent me a letter in which he wrote, ‘all went perfectly’, a reference to his Tahiti visit.

The people of French Polynesia reserved a very special welcome for the president of the French Republic and his wife, Bernadette, as they arrived from the French Pacific territory of New Caledonia. The warm welcome continued in typical Polynesian tradition throughout the three-day visit by the Chiracs, who were...

PORT MORESBY, Papua New Guinea (The National, Jan. 2) – Residents of the YMCA settlement in Mt Hagen were horrified when 11 armed men rampaged through their homes, destroying some of them and taking properties at will on New Year’s day.

Residents confirmed that eight houses were broken into and properties stolen while a mother lost a front tooth when she was punched by one of the criminals.

The criminals threatened to slit the throats of the children with bush knives, one of the mothers who was attacked said.

According to Jacob Walega, who lives at the YMCA settlement, the 11 men were armed with bush knives and guns and had their bodies painted to shield their identity.

Mr Walega said they were attacked several hours after midnight after the residents had come out to beat drums and build bonfires to welcome the New Year.

"We went back to sleep after the celebrations and were taken by surprise by the armed criminals," he...

PORT MORESBY, Papua New Guinea (The National, Jan. 2) - More than 20 houses went up in flames in Finschhafen, Morobe province during Christmas.

Villagers retaliated after an armed hold-up on the Heldsbach-Pindiu Highway, leaving one man dead and another critically wounded.

According to an eyewitness, Jimmy Songo, the incident happened at Yunzaing village. He said because of the poor condition of the road, a PMV dropped off Pindiu bound passengers at the road junction at Yunzaing.

As the passengers carrying their cargo were going home, a group of youths from a nearby village held them up and robbed them. In the process one of them fired a homemade shotgun seriously injuring two people.

The two men were rushed to the Butaweng Hospital where one was pronounced dead and the other is fighting for his life.

Just before the New Year, villagers from Hube and Burum-Kuat local level government council areas of Finschhafen raided...

KOLONIA, Pohnpei (Marianas Variety, Jan. 2) — Defeated Pohnpei gubernatorial candidate William Iriarte and his wife, Lily Jean, are the subject of an investigation by the state Attorney General’s Office for their alleged mishandling of insurance policy premiums, including those of state government employees.

Attorney General Edwel Santos said they were looking at the possibility of filing criminal charges against the couple if the evidence warrants it.

Among the possible charges, he said, are embezzlement, fraud and grand larceny.

The Iriartes, along with a former associate, Emy Santos, are already facing a civil suit filed in the Federated States of Micronesia Supreme Court by Missouri-based Individual Assurance Co., the firm for which they used as agents.

The charge alleges that the Iriartes collected but failed to remit $199,925.37 from IAC policy holders from 1998 to 2001, while Santos failed to remit another $122,418.03 from...

PORT MORESBY, Papua New Guinea (The National, Jan. 5) – Papua New Guinea Minister for Inter-Government Relations Peter Barter is concerned about unconfirmed reports that horse-racing machines have been installed in Madang.

Sir Peter, who is the regional MP for Madang, said the machines are "evil machines" and should not be allowed into the province.

The Minister said people should be aware that the Somare government has already banned the use and importation of horse racing machines in Papua New Guinea.

"The Government has good reasons for acting. Horse racing machines were causing a great deal of harm to the community. Young children were enticed into gambling lounges and away from school. No taxes paid to the government," Sir Peter said in a statement.

Acting on the wishes of the churches and Council of Women, the Madang Provincial Government had banned poker machines in Madang.

Pacific Islands Report is a nonprofit news publication of the Pacific Islands Development Program at the East-West Center in Honolulu, Hawai‘i. Offered as a free service to readers, PIR provides an edited digest of news, commentary and analysis from across the Pacific Islands region, Monday - Friday.